Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has shared his thoughts on the future of movie theaters and how cinema habits could continue to live on in the age of streaming – saying that while there's "still an appeal", but the industry's future lies in convincing young audiences to keep attending as they grow older.
During an interview with IGN's Jim Vejvoda, Soderbergh, who is known for his Ocean's Eleven series amongst many other Hollywood hits, considered how movie theaters and streaming services can continue to coexist. He identified programming and engagement as two key areas that need careful consideration in order to keep the cinema-going experience alive.
"I think people still want to go out," Soderbergh said, acknowledging the reasons behind taking a trip to the box office. "There's still an appeal to seeing a movie in a movie theater. It's still a great destination. And it really depends, I think, on our ability to attract, to convince the older audiences to continue to come out [...] It has nothing to do with windowing [the term for the amount of time left between theater and home releases]."
Soderbergh went on to reference the "huge" numbers that Spider-Man: No Way Home has managed to pull in at the box office, having just topped its fourth domestic weekend box office in a row with ticket sales of $33 million. He recognized the ongoing popularity of certain movie theater experiences at present but shifted his focus onto how that should be nurtured into the future.
"It has to do with programming and figuring out a way, thinking of creative ways or at least ideas to try and cultivate that audience again," he explained. "The question is can you grow a younger audience that will mature and keep movie-going as a habit? You know what I mean? If they're going to the movies now, that's great. But what can you do to make sure 10 years from now they're going to the movies as often as they do today?"
The comments made by Soderbergh join a chorus of conversations that several other filmmakers have been having on the subject. Notably, amongst the chatter, director Christopher Nolan penned an op-ed amid the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of saving movie theaters, which called for government, studio, and societal support of movie theaters as they faced a time of "unprecedented challenge and uncertainty."
Nolan isn't the only fervent advocate of the movie theater experience, Dune director Denis Villeneuve previously spoke out against Warner Bros. decision to release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in theaters on the same day. He recognized that "streaming services are a positive and powerful addition to the movie and TV ecosystems," but argued that streaming alone couldn't "sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID."
Villeneuve further doubled down on his comments last year when he acknowledged the "tremendous pressure" the movie industry had been put under due to the coronavirus crisis but stated that he was still not happy about his next release dropping simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max because, in his personal opinion, watching Dune on a TV would be like "driving a speedboat in your bathtub."
In recent times, success has been found in releasing movies both into theaters and onto streaming services — and with the new year comes a whole host of new shows and movies for us to dive into on the big and small screen.
Soderbergh's next movie, a twisted thriller called Kimi, is scheduled to be released exclusively on HBO Max on February 10. However, if you're in need of some entertainment before then, we have a rundown of the biggest movies and shows coming to streaming platforms, as well as a fresh look at the 2022 movie slate.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Continue reading...
During an interview with IGN's Jim Vejvoda, Soderbergh, who is known for his Ocean's Eleven series amongst many other Hollywood hits, considered how movie theaters and streaming services can continue to coexist. He identified programming and engagement as two key areas that need careful consideration in order to keep the cinema-going experience alive.
"I think people still want to go out," Soderbergh said, acknowledging the reasons behind taking a trip to the box office. "There's still an appeal to seeing a movie in a movie theater. It's still a great destination. And it really depends, I think, on our ability to attract, to convince the older audiences to continue to come out [...] It has nothing to do with windowing [the term for the amount of time left between theater and home releases]."
Soderbergh went on to reference the "huge" numbers that Spider-Man: No Way Home has managed to pull in at the box office, having just topped its fourth domestic weekend box office in a row with ticket sales of $33 million. He recognized the ongoing popularity of certain movie theater experiences at present but shifted his focus onto how that should be nurtured into the future.
"It has to do with programming and figuring out a way, thinking of creative ways or at least ideas to try and cultivate that audience again," he explained. "The question is can you grow a younger audience that will mature and keep movie-going as a habit? You know what I mean? If they're going to the movies now, that's great. But what can you do to make sure 10 years from now they're going to the movies as often as they do today?"
The comments made by Soderbergh join a chorus of conversations that several other filmmakers have been having on the subject. Notably, amongst the chatter, director Christopher Nolan penned an op-ed amid the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of saving movie theaters, which called for government, studio, and societal support of movie theaters as they faced a time of "unprecedented challenge and uncertainty."
Nolan isn't the only fervent advocate of the movie theater experience, Dune director Denis Villeneuve previously spoke out against Warner Bros. decision to release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in theaters on the same day. He recognized that "streaming services are a positive and powerful addition to the movie and TV ecosystems," but argued that streaming alone couldn't "sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID."
Villeneuve further doubled down on his comments last year when he acknowledged the "tremendous pressure" the movie industry had been put under due to the coronavirus crisis but stated that he was still not happy about his next release dropping simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max because, in his personal opinion, watching Dune on a TV would be like "driving a speedboat in your bathtub."
In recent times, success has been found in releasing movies both into theaters and onto streaming services — and with the new year comes a whole host of new shows and movies for us to dive into on the big and small screen.
Soderbergh's next movie, a twisted thriller called Kimi, is scheduled to be released exclusively on HBO Max on February 10. However, if you're in need of some entertainment before then, we have a rundown of the biggest movies and shows coming to streaming platforms, as well as a fresh look at the 2022 movie slate.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Continue reading...